HONG KONG (Reuters) – Drugmaker Mundipharma Worldwide Ltd,owned by the billionaire American Sackler household, has kicked off the sale of its China unit in a deal that might fetch greater than $1 billion, folks accustomed to the scenario informed Reuters.
Mundipharma has invited a choose group of potential patrons, together with non-public fairness corporations and native and worldwide pharmaceutical firms, to bid for the asset, stated the folks.
Preliminary bids are due by the top of Might, stated considered one of them.
Mundipharma employed Deutsche Financial institution final yr to discover a sale of itself and a few particular person companies. It determined to run a standalone sale course of for its China enterprise earlier this yr, the folks stated.
Mundipharma didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark. Deutsche Financial institution declined to remark. The folks declined to be named as the data is confidential.
Primarily based in Cambridge, United Kingdom, Mundipharma has a presence in 120 international locations. It had $2 billion in international gross sales from medication for ache administration and supportive care, diabetes, oncology and respiratory illnesses, amongst others, its web site (www.mundipharma.com) confirmed.
Mundipharma launched its China enterprise in 1993 by way of a high-profile signing ceremony on the Nice Corridor of the Folks on Tiananmen Sq..
It stated on the web site it has greater than 1,500 staff in China and its Beijing manufacturing unit is the most important maker of narcotic and psychoactive medication within the nation. Painkiller OxyContin is without doubt one of the Chinese language unit’s core merchandise.
The plan to promote Mundipharma China comes because the Sacklers have provided a $4.3 billion settlement for an additional of their drug firms, Purdue Pharma LP, to resolve sprawling opioid litigations in america.
Purdue, which additionally makes OxyContin, filed for chapter in September 2019 within the face of practically 3,000 lawsuits accusing the corporate of fuelling the nationwide opioid disaster by misleading advertising and marketing. It filed its chapter plan in March.
The Sacklers had proposed to make use of at the least $1.5 billion from a sale of Mundipharma for the Purdue settlement. (right here)
Reporting by Kane Wu in Hong Kong; Further reporting by Arno Schuetze in Frankfurt; Enhancing by Muralikumar Anantharaman
